It’s important to look at that trade with some context. The team was 3-5 and had seen their experiment of revolving-door receivers fail. The front office could have easily, stubbornly, stuck to their decision. Instead, they admitted wrongdoing and made a play for a 24-year-old receiver who’d already had two thousand-plus yard seasons.

The move makes sense. There are no Amari Cooper’s coming in the 2019 NFL Draft.

The receiver with the most upside is DK Metcalf from Ole Miss, whom suffered a scary neck injury that stopped his season short. The 6-foot-3, 225-pound redshirt sophomore has admirable traits.

His releases against press-man are advanced for such a young player, and he possesses plus athleticism for an athlete of his size. But his route tree, due largely to the team’s pathetic scheme consisted of fades, slants, hitches and the occasional comeback, leave plenty to be desired. He’d be a multi-year project before even possibly reaching Cooper’s production.

Not a single other prospect projects that high a ceiling.

So the Cowboys gave up a first-round pick.

Even if the Cowboys would go 6-10, where do they go from there? Does the front office take a shot at a tight end in Noah Fant who is a better big slot weapon than an in-line tight end? Putting a square peg in a round hole is something they’re already attempting to do with their quarterback. Tight ends historically take time to develop. This team wants to win right now.

That takes tight end off the board as a first rounder.

What are the Cowboys other needs? That is, what are their realistic needs? Quarterback is and always was out of the question.

What about a safety? Well, there lies a possible argument.

It’s difficult to know whether or not a safety would be available by the time the Cowboys would pick. Deionte Thompson is but the single safety prospect valuable enough to take high. In that situation, there is a chance he gets over-drafted because of the lack of supply. Rangy free safeties do not grow on trees.

If the Cowboys make a push for Earl Thomas III taking another free safety becomes a bit redundant.

So then where does the team look? What about a defensive tackle?

Well, the Dallas Cowboys highest drafted defensive tackle is Maliek Collins with the No. 67 overall pick in the 2016 draft. Outside of Collins, they haven’t taken an interior defensive lineman outside of the seventh round since 2006 when they chose Montavious Stanley in the sixth round.

Even though they strongly considered Vita Vea last season, history shows they probably don’t go in that direction.

Therefore, the only other realistic option would be an interior offensive lineman. The only issue with that is the team has, essentially, four first-round-picks on the offensive line if you acknowledge that without off-field concerns La’el Collins would have been a first-round pick. Your other offensive lineman is the No. 50 overall pick in his first season. There is simply too much invested in that position to take another.

That changes if Travis Frederick’s health doesn’t improve to where he can become a top center again, but Frederick and the organization have seemed upbeat about his progress.

One position that doesn’t get enough talk, and would show the organization has no problem admitting fault, would be if they drafted another pass-rusher. Demarcus Lawrence is obviously the guy, but giving him a legitimate threat opposite would take this already stout defense to elite status.

Nick Bosa will probably be the first pick so that was never a possibility. After Bosa though, the jury is out on a list that includes Clemson’s Clelin Ferrell, Florida State’s Brian Burns, Kentucky’s Josh Allen, Florida’s Jachai Polite, and Mississippi’s Montez Sweat. With the abundance of high-end interior defenders in this draft, it’s possible the Cowboys could have chosen between three or more of these five rushers.

The Cowboy’s front office made the right decision. They went for it and it paid off.

They looked at the landscape of the 2019 draft and decided, “Nah.” It’s time to admit that the incompetence shown in the organization from the time the Aikman era ended and the Will McClay era began is squarely in the past.

Nobody bats a thousand. There have been mistakes. There’s been luck. But they’ve stopped negligently spending, fixed their ugly cap situation and drafted well.